Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest Welcome to the tenth annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. First prize is $3,000. A total of $5,550 in prizes will be awarded, plus a new $250 bonus prize for humorous verse. Submit poems in any style, theme or genre. Click here to read the winning entries from past contests. Submission Period Entries accepted December 15, 2011-September 30, 2012 (postmark dates) What to Submit Poetry in any style or theme. Your entry should be your own original work. You may submit the same poem simultaneously to this contest and to others, and you may submit poems that have been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights. Prizes and Publication First prize: $3,000. Second prize: $1,000. Third prize: $400. Fourth prize: $250. Bonus prize for humorous verse: $250. There will also be six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. The top 11 entries will be published on the Winning Writers website (over one million page views per year) and announced in Tom Howard Contest News and the Winning Writers Newsletter, a combined audience of over 40,000 readers. Entry Fee The reading fee is $8 for every 25 lines you submit. If you submit a sonnet of 14 lines and a haiku of 3 lines, totaling 17 lines, the fee would be $8. If you submit three poems of 15 lines each, totaling 45 lines, the fee would be $16. Exclude your poem titles and any blank lines from your line count. There is no limit on the number of lines or number of poems you may submit. Please note: Generally entry fees are not refundable. However, if you believe you have an exceptional circumstance, please contact us within one year of your entry. Deadline September 30, 2012. Your entry must be postmarked or submitted online by this date. How To Submit Click here to submit online (credit and debit cards) Click here to submit by mail (checks and money orders) Click here to submit via PayPal Announcement of Winners We are pleased to present the winners of the ninth contest here. The winners of the tenth contest will be announced on February 15, 2013. Entrants with valid email addresses will receive an email notification. English Language Poets of all nations may enter. However, the poems you submit should be in English. If you have written a poem in another language, you may translate your poem into English and submit the translation. You may also submit a translation of a work that is in the public domain. Privacy Your privacy is assured. Neither Winning Writers nor Tom Howard Books will rent your information to third parties. Winning Writers processes entries and fees for this contest as a service to Tom Howard Books. Winning Writers is not a sponsor and does not judge the entries. Copyright If your entry wins any cash prize, you agree to give both John H. Reid and Winning Writers a nonexclusive license to publish your work online. From time to time, selected winning entries may also be published in printed collections. If you win a prize, we may ask you for permission to include your entry in one of these books. You may accept or decline this invitation as you choose. Your entry will not be published in print without your consent, and you retain all other rights. You are free, for example, to publish your work in print or online elsewhere, and to enter it into other contests, whether or not you win a prize in this contest. Judges Final judge John Howard Reid has won first prizes and other awards in prestigious literary events. A former journalist and magazine editor, he has published several historical novels, a collection of poetry, a guide to winning literary contests, and over fifty books of film criticism and movie history. See his work at Lulu. He lives in Wyong, Australia. Mr. Reid is assisted in the judging by Dee C. Konrad. A leading educator and published author, Mrs. Konrad was Associate Professor in the English faculty of Barat College of DePaul University, and served as Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the year 2000-2001. About Winning Writers Winning Writers finds and creates quality resources for poets and writers. Our expert online literary contest guide, Poetry Contest Insider, profiles over 1,250 poetry and prose contests. We directly sponsor the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest and the Sports Poetry & Prose Contest. We also assist the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest, the Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse and the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest. Winning Writers is proud to be one of "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2005-2012) and a recipient of the Truly Useful Site Award (Preditors & Editors, March 2006). Questions about this contest? Please see the Frequently Asked Questions or click here to email a note to the contest administrator.

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